Undeath
Overview Undeath is the state of existence of an organism that died at some point, but has since come back to life via a supernatural force of some particular sort, but in a state where it can no longer be considered truly alive or truly dead. Undead physiology The undead will never age beyond their current point, even if they died before reaching adulthood. In addition, they seem to have limitless stamina and immunity to virtually all non-magical diseases, poisons and infections, and, with some exceptions, no longer need to eat, drink or breathe to sustain themselves. Classification Corporeal undead Also known as living corpses, corporeal undead are souls that still exist within the physical bodies they had before and during death. While they can still be killed by decapitation or destruction of the brain, corporeal undead no longer feel pain or have the biological need for any of their other organs to function; some can apparently even speak or make other vocal noises without the need for their larynx (unless they lost said larynx or their voice before death/reanimation). Exceptions include vampires and mummies, which rely on their hearts as well as their brains (or in a mummy's case, instead of its since-removed brain) to function similarly to when they were alive. Limitations brought on by the lack of working body systems include the complete inability to sexually reproduce or heal even the slightest of wounds or cuts naturally; exceptions to the latter of these include vampires, which need to drink a sufficient amount of blood to do so, and husks, which need to maintain their symbiotic relationship with their smogs to do so (incorporeal undead, by nature, cannot receive physical injuries). In addition, the lack of working pain sensors tends to make an undead more likely to receive serious injuries without noticing. Incorporeal undead Also known as non-corporeal undead or spirits, incorporeal undead no longer inhabit their physical bodies, and instead wander the Earth dimension as spirits. Sentient undead Sentient undead are generally just as conscious, intelligent, emotional etc. as they were in life. Non-sentient undead Also known as mindless undead, non-sentient undead have no consciousness to speak of, and are usually driven purely by a single instinct; usually to serve their masters or devour the living. Artificial undead Artificial undead are the types of undead that exist due to sapient species such as humans reanimating the dead (or in a lich's case, oneself) with a specific form of magic such as necromancy. Hybrid undead A hybrid undead is formed on the rare occasion that a living organism is converted by two or more different types of undead into an amalgamation of those types. Cursed undead Cursed undead are another rare type of undead formed when a living organism afflicted with a certain genetic curse (e.g. therianthropy, the wendigo curse) in life is converted into an undead. Notes *The transition from death to undeath is typically called reanimation, or less commonly, resurrection. *One's transformation into an undead can usually be stopped while they're still alive with unicorn blood or specific potions. **In theory, if this is used on a smog-infested animal or person, the smog will be killed and what it ate of the would-be husk's skeleton will be restored. *It is unknown if life forms such as plants, fungi or bacteria can become undead. Out-of-universe notes * Trivia * Out-of-universe trivia * Category:Magic and the supernatural Category:The undead